As both a broadcaster and a team owner, Tom Brady has some special rules he has to abide by when he’s calling games. And it sounds like he violated one of those rules on Sunday and could face punishment.
As a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, Tom Brady is explicitly prohibited from criticizing officials and referees. But that did not stop him from doing that during his broadcast on Sunday.
During Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch was penalized for a hit to the head and neck area of Green Bay Packers wide receiver Bo Melton. Brady agreed with that decision from the referees, but what happened next drew criticism from the legendary quarterback.
After a review from the league offices in New York, the referees ejected Branch for the hit, and Brady was not happy about that.
While Brady did agree with the penalty, he did not agree with the ejection. And he made it pretty clear as he criticized the call.
“I don’t love that call at all,” Brady said on the broadcast in a clip shared by Awful Announcing.
“I mean, obviously, it’s a penalty, but, to me, that has to be serious intent in a game like this.”
It may seem like some rather harmless analysis, but given that Brady is prohibited from criticizing officials, this is a pretty clear violation of the rules he is bound to as a league owner.
We’ll have to see whether or not Brady is punished for these comments.
Obviously, these restrictions make it rather difficult for Brady to do his job.